Miles and Points

15 Best Marriott Luxury Hotels to Book with Points in 2022

May 10, 2022 by Lauren Graves

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Marriott is the largest hotel chain in the world with over 7,640 properties (as of May 2022), and the list just keeps growing. In 2021, the chain added almost 25,000 rooms and expects to continue growing at a rate of at least 6%.

Marriott Bonvoy, the hotel’s loyalty program, just hit 153 million members this year. Members can use their loyalty points to purchase award nights at 30 well-known hotel brands. These include affordable and family-friendly options such as Springhill Suites and Fairfield and high-end options such as Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis.

This hotel chain features hundreds of luxury hotels and resorts in top travel destinations around the world. Whether you’re traveling on business or leisure, you will have no problem finding a first-rate Marriott property to give you the comfort, convenience, and amenities you look for in a high-end hotel.

We’ve rounded up 15 of the top luxury hotels you can book with points. These are the best of the best Marriott properties in 2022 and how much you can expect to pay to stay.

✈️ Looking for a new travel credit card this year? See today’s top offers below:

About Marriott Bonvoy

Anyone can join the Marriott Bonvoy rewards program to start earning points. Plus, you get extra benefits when booking as a Marriott Bonvoy loyalty member. Everyone gets mobile check-in and free WiFi just for being a member, but elite members qualify for enhanced room upgrades, a 48-hour guarantee, lounge access, and more.

There are six membership tiers in this loyalty program. Here’s how many nights you need to book to qualify for each.

Member Status: 0 – 9 nights a year
Silver Elite: 10 – 24 nights a year
Gold Elite: 25 – 49 nights a year
Platinum Elite: 50 – 74 nights a year
Titanium Elite: 75 – 99 nights a year
Ambassador Elite: 100+ nights a year and a least $14K in annual qualifying spend

You can qualify for lifetime elite status with enough qualifying lifetime nights and years of being a member. For example, you will get Lifetime Platinum Elite status when you have been a member with Platinum Elite status for at least 10 years and stayed 600 lifetime nights.

You earn a higher points bonus for your bookings when you reach a higher status, with Titanium Elite and Ambassador Elite members earning a bonus of 75%.

Hotel Categories

Marriott Bonvoy divides hotels into eight categories with 1 being the least premium and 8 being the most. Award pricing is determined by hotel category and the season. During peak travel season, you’ll use more points for a booking just as you would pay a higher price.

Take a look at the seasonal redemption rates for every category when you use just points to book.

Category	Off Peak	Standard	Peak
1	5,000	7,500	10,000
2	10,000	12,500	15,000
3	15,000	17,500	20,000
4	20,000	25,000	30,000
5	30,000	35,000	40,000
6	40,000	50,000	60,000
7	50,000	60,000	70,000
8	70,000	85,000	100,000

These rates are reduced by up to 20% when you use PointSavers to book. PointSavers promotions are applied only to select hotels, dates, and room categories, so you won’t be able to find these discounted rates on every stay. But you can search for these promotional rates when booking travel and choose from what’s available. There is no added cost for using PointSavers and anyone can use it regardless of their membership tier.

You may also choose to use a combination of points and cash to book. Here is the redemption chart for cash and point combinations.

Category	Off Peak	Standard	Peak
1	55 USD + 1,500 points	55 USD + 3,500 points	55 USD + 4,500 points
2	65 USD + 4,000 points	65 USD + 6,000 points	65 USD + 7,000 points
3	80 USD + 6,000 points	80 USD + 8,500 points	80 USD + 9,500 points
4	105 USD + 8,000 points	105 USD + 12,000 points	105 USD + 15,000 points
5	140 USD + 13,500 points	140 USD + 17,000 points	140 USD + 21,000 points
6	190 USD + 19,000 points	190 USD + 25,000 points	190 USD + 30,000 points
7	250 USD + 25,000 points	250 USD + 30,000 points	250 USD + 40,000 points
8	440 USD + 27,500 points	440 USD + 42,500 points	440 USD + 57,500 points

How to Earn Points

You can earn points for your Marriott Bonvoy account by:

Booking a Marriott stay
Renting a car through Hertz
Cruising With Points (take a cruise with a partner line)
Eating Around Town (eat at more than 11,000 restaurants
Booking an event through Marriott (e.g. a party, conference, or meeting at a hotel)
Using a co-branded Marriott credit card

We recommend using a co-branded Marriott credit card to easily rack up points on travel and non-travel purchases. Here’s a summary of the two Marriott credit cards available.

Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card

This travel credit card lets you earn up to 17x points on every $1 you spend on Marriott hotel bookings. You’ll get 10x points for being a member, 6x points when you use this card, and an additional 1x points if you have Silver Elite status. You’ll also get 2x points on all other travel purchases. This card has an annual fee of $95.

🏨 Get 3 Free Nights up to a 150,000 Total Point Value (each night valued up to 50,000 points) after you spend $3,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from your account opening.

Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card

This is the less elite version of the previous card, but it still offers serious points-earning value. You can earn up to 14x points total on every dollar used to pay for Marriott stays, and 2x points on all other travel, and 1x points on everything else. There is no annual fee for this card.

Earn 30,000 bonus points once spending $1,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.

You can use your points to book a stay at any participating Marriott hotel, but to get the most out of them, it makes a lot of sense to go with luxury to make your points count. The following hotels and resorts are some of our favorites.

Ritz-Carlton – Los Angeles

This 5-star Los Angeles hotel is one of the most popular Ritz-Carlton hotels in the world. It is located right in downtown LA within walking distance of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Staples Center, and Los Angeles Convention Center. This is a category 8 hotel, the highest level of luxury Marriott Bonvoy offers.

You can get a room here for between $400 and $1,400 depending on what type of room you get and when you’re traveling. Prices spike during the peak travel season, or around the holidays and during the summer. On average, you can expect to pay around $700 a night and generally not more than $1,000.

To book this room using points, you will spend between 70,000 and 100,000 per night, but likely about 85,000.

💸 Price: ~$630 – $1,400

💳 Points: 70,000 – 100,000

Ritz-Carlton – New York Central Park

Another iconic Ritz-Carlton destination, this category 8 hotel in the heart of New York offers spectacular views, luxurious suites, and a number of upscale amenities. This hotel is a short walk away from the Museum of Modern Art, the Rockefeller Center, and Fifth Avenue.

Guest room rates at this hotel start at about $800 or 85,000 points per night at standard pricing and go up to about $1,800 a night during peak travel season or the summer months. You can get a room for between 85,000 and 100,000 points per night.

💸 Price: ~$800 – $5,800

💳 Points: 85,000 – 100,000

Ritz-Carlton – Cancun, Quintana Roo

This Ritz-Carlton hotel in sunny Quintana Roo is a category 6 beachfront property. Guests can dine and swim without leaving the resort, or venture out for entertainment, shopping, and immersive cultural experiences.

Prices for guest rooms here start at about $520 per night or 40,000 points during the off-season or when there is a promotion available. In the summer (who doesn’t want to go to Cancun in the summer?), you could be paying $1,500 a night or more for the lowest rate room, or up to 60,000 in points. Deluxe suites with oceanfront views can cost more than $2,600 a night.

💸 Price: ~$520 – $2,600

💳 Points: 40,000 – 60,000

Ritz-Carlton – Montreal, Quebec

If you’re Montreal-bound and you want a luxe travel experience, consider staying at the Ritz-Carlton Montreal. This is a category 7 Marriott destination at the city’s center that has been named the best hotel in Montreal several years in a row, well-known for its on-site French restaurant and large suites.

Staying in a guest room here costs anywhere from about 500 CAD to 750 CAD a night and prices don’t fluctuate as much as some other hotels. In points, you’re looking at either 50,000 or 60,000 a night, but probably 60,000.

💸 Price: ~$500 CAD – $750 CAD

💳 Points: 50,000 – 60,000 points

Ritz-Carlton – Bali, Indonesia

A category 6 property in Indonesia, the Ritz-Carlton Bali is a luxury resort with an unbeatable spot on the coast of Nusa Dua. It’s a five-star private paradise that offers best-in-class amenities (like a hydra-vital pool, spa, and more) and hospitality for a memorable Bali getaway.

Prices for standard rooms at this location start at about 1,950,000 IDR or about $140 a night and max out at around $4,988,000 IDR or about $350 a night. Using rewards, you will pay between 45,000 and 60,000 points for every night of your booking.

This location regularly offers PointSavers promotions, so keep an eye out for these if your dates are flexible. For example, you can get a night for as little as 35,000 points using this feature.

💸 Price: ~$140 – $350

💳 Points: 45,000 – 60,000 points

St. Regis – Washington D.C.

St. Regis in Washington, D.C., is a city staple that towers over the downtown district. It is a historic building with original fixtures and old-school elegance that offers guests prime access to the city’s epicenter and a short two-block walk to the White House. This is a category 7 Marriott property.

To stay here will cost you anywhere from about $270 to $615 if you choose a standard guest room. If you book with points, you will need to use between 50,000 and 70,000 points per night. The peak travel season starts in mid-March at this location.

Most rooms at this hotel let you choose between non-refundable, prepay, and member rates that vary slightly in price. You can save the most money if you are willing to prepay and book a non-refundable room.

💸 Price: ~$270 – $615

💳 Points: 50,000 – 70,000 points

St. Regis – Punta Mita, Mexico

St. Regis Punta Mita is a category 8 resort with 22 gorgeous acres of property in the scenic Mexican peninsula of Punta Mita. There are many luxury hotels in this destination, so the competition is stiff, but this property is a favorite with many tourists. Butler services and private villas await you.

Prices here for standard guest rooms range a lot with travel peaks, starting at about $780 and going all the way up to $1,500 a night. Most likely, you’re looking at around $1,000 per night. You’ll pay between 70,000 and 140,000 points per night, per room

💸 Price: ~$780 – $1,500

💳 Points: 70,000 – 140,000 points

St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort – Puerto Rico

St. Regis is a luxury Marriott retreat located in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico. This category 8 property on Bahia Beach is wedged between the sea and the El Yunque rainforest, with spacious suites offering extravagant accommodations and views.

To stay here in a guest room, you could be paying anywhere from $650 to $2,000 per night. Avoid visiting in the summer if you don’t want to pay $2,000. Using points to book, the rate is between 70,000 and 100,000 a night. These rooms tend to fill up well in advance, so try to plan as far ahead as possible.

💸 Price: ~$650 – $2,000

💳 Points: 70,000 – 100,000 points

The Gritti Palace – Venice, Italy

Stay at one of the most elegant and prestigious hotels in Venice, Italy, when you book a room at the Gritti Palace. Built in 1475 and beautifully preserved, this five-star, category 8 hotel is located right in the heart of the city on the canal.

A standard room here starts at about 780 EUR and tops out at around 1,470 a night. From May through September, you’ll pay about 1,200 EUR per night. In points, a room will cost you anywhere from 70,000 to 100,000 points a night. This is another hotel that you definitely want to book in advance if you can.

💸 Price: 780 EUR – 1,470 EUR

💳 Points: 70,000 – 100,000 points

The Miami Beach EDITION – Miami, Florida

Check out the EDITION hotel on Collins Avenue in Miami Beach, Florida, the next time you’re in the area. This is an ultra-modern, boutique category 8 hotel right on the ocean with a spa and bowling alley on the property and world-class dining.

You will pay at least $450 a night for a guest room here and as much as $2,640. This range is extreme because Miami Beach is a popular travel destination around the holidays, so avoid going during Thanksgiving and Christmas. When you book with points, you will pay between 70,000 and 100,000 a night.

💸 Price: ~$450 – $2,640

💳 Points: 70,000 – 100,000 points

Vedema, the Luxury Collection – Megalohori Santorini, Greece

The Luxury Collection is a division of Starwood Hotels and Resorts that features unique hotels in culturally rich and breathtaking destinations. The Vedema Resort, for example, is a Luxury Collection property in Megalohori Santorini, Greece, iconic to the already-scenic region with regional architecture and one-of-a-kind views. This is a category 8 Marriott property.

The price of a room here begins at around 300 EUR and can reach up to 5,000 EUR a night. There is a limited number of rooms here, so getting in might be difficult. The rate in points is between 70,000 and 100,000 a night.

💸 Price: ~300 EUR – 5,000 EUR

💳 Points: 70,000 – 100,000 points

JW Marriott Maldives – Maldives

Stay at one of the most opulent hotels in the Maldives when you book at the JW Marriott Maldives Resort and Spa. This is a category 8 resort on the tiny island nation of the Maldives offering watersports, spa packages, a variety of dining options, and more.

You can expect to be paying at least $780 a night here, but you’ll likely pay much more. This property has one of the craziest price ranges we’ve seen with rates up to $9,300 a night for guest rooms. Point rates are a little more steady at 70,000 to 100,000 per night.

💸 Price: $780 – $9,300

💳 Points: 70,000 – 100,000 points

JW Marriott Mauritius Resort – Mauritius

This JW Marriott property, rebranded in 2021 from a St. Regis, had to be on our list. It is a category 7 property on the Le Morne Peninsula of Mauritius off the coast of Africa that puts guests right on the beach of the Indian Ocean.

You can get a guest room here for as little as about $560 and as much as $1,570 a night. You are pretty much guaranteed the lowest prices when you travel in February or March, and you can expect to pay the highest prices in the summer months. When you use points to pay, you’ll spend between 50,000 and 70,000 per night with rates starting to top out in March.

💸 Price: ~$560 – $1,570

💳 Points: 50,000 – 70,000 points

W Kuala Lumpur – Kuala Lumpur

The W Kuala Lumpur is a five-star hotel located in the center of Lumpur, Malaysia. This is a category 5 Marriott property within walking distance of the Kuala Lumpur City Center and the Perdana Botanical Gardens. Though not as extravagant as other hotels on this list, we still recommend this property for a lush Malaysian trip.

To stay here, you’ll pay 590 MYR on the lowest end and 1,800 MYR on the highest end. You’ll need to use at least 30,000 points every night and at most 40,000. To avoid heavy rain, the best time to visit Malaysia are the months from February to September.

💸 Price: ~$140 – $430

💳 Points: 30,000 – 40,000 points

Riviera Marriott Hotel La Porta de Monaco – Cap d/Ail, France

Finally, we want to put a Marriott property in Port de Cap d’Ail, France, on your radar. The Riviera Marriott Hotel La Porte de Monaco is situated between the sea, the Prince’s Palace of Monaco, and Monte Carlo. Though only a category 5 property, this hotel is perfect for a French getaway that feels luxurious but won’t break the bank.

Rooms here cost anywhere from 170 EUR to 1,100 EUR a night. If you’re using points, you will need between 30,000 and 40,000 a night (sometimes up to 50,000).

💸 Price: ~170 EUR – 1,100 EUR

💳 Points: 30,000 – 40,000 points

Final Thoughts

There’s no reason not to book luxury Marriott stays with your Marriott Bonvoy loyalty points. Marriott continues to add properties to its lineup, so we definitely recommend checking the list of hotels and resorts when traveling. If you’ve got loyalty points burning a hole in your Marriott account, use them to save money on high-end hotel and resort bookings.

✈️ Looking for a new travel credit card this year? See today’s top offers below:

9 Easy Ways to Get Hotel Elite Status

October 28, 2021 by Lauren Graves

Some hotel loyalty programs are better than others, but elite status is always a good thing. Elite members are VIPs. They can save money on hotel bookings, get complimentary perks and upgrades, and even get special treatment with partner loyalty programs. If you do a lot of traveling or even just stay in a hotel a few times a year, it’s worth working toward elite status.

Generally, loyalty programs reset every calendar year but may extend a couple of months into the new year. Most membership programs require you to earn elite status every year unless you’ve achieved lifetime status, so you should always be earning points.

We’ve rounded up the nine easiest ways to get hotel elite status for you here. These apply to most programs and give you many opportunities to earn points beyond just staying at hotels.

✈️ Looking for a new travel credit card this year? See today’s top offers below:

Best Hotel Loyalty Programs

Before we get into how you can work your way up to elite status, let’s go over which hotel brands have loyalty programs that are worth earning elite status for.

The best hotel programs year after year generally are:

Marriott Bonvoy,
World of Hyatt,
Hilton Honors,
Radisson Rewards, and
Wyndham Rewards

These programs (above) are not only popular because they are part of the biggest hotel chains but because they also offer:

high rewards values,
a variety of ways to redeem points, and
great perks.

If you’re a loyalty member of another program, it’s a good idea to research that program’s requirements for elite status and redemption options. Every program is a little different, and you never want to miss your own points.

Book Eligible Stays at a Hotel or Resort

The most straightforward way to earn hotel points is to stay at a hotel. Points are usually calculated using the amount you have paid for a stay and how many nights you’re staying. The more expensive your room and the longer your stay, the more points you qualify for.

And often, a hotel will give you bonus nights for longer stays.

Wyndham Rewards, for instance, is giving members 7,500 bonus points or the equivalent of a free future night when they stay at least four nights at a participating location. Bonuses like this usually have date ranges that you must travel within to qualify, but most give you about a year to redeem a free night.

Just make sure to read the fine print about nights and spend that qualify. Certain room types, hotel locations, and travel dates might not be eligible to earn points. On the flip side, some rooms and locations may qualify you to earn extra points.

And the hotel stay itself isn’t the only purchase that can earn points. There might be other ways to get points on the property. World of Hyatt, for example, lets members earn up to 5 points per dollar spent on dining, spa, and other purchases at participating locations.

Book With a Travel Partner

Flights, car rentals, and cruises are just a few of the ways you can earn hotel points while traveling.

Hotels and airlines often partner up to give members double rewards when they travel. In fact, most major hotel chains have several airline partners and vice versa. Many airlines partner with multiple hotel chains, so you’re likely to be traveling with a hotel partner no matter what major airline you choose.

Hyatt and American Airlines, Marriott and United Airlines, and Hilton and Delta Air Lines are power travel partnerships you might recognize. Just remember that you must be a member of both the hotel and airline loyalty programs to earn hotel points for flying. Usually, you get to choose whether you’d like to earn miles or hotel points for a flight.

Spend With a Hotel-Branded Credit Card

One of the easiest and most rewarding ways to earn hotel points to reach elite status is using a co-branded credit card. This makes it possible to rack up the points even when you’re not traveling and being a cardmember usually means additional perks like rate discounts, free nights, and bonus points for annual spending. You may even get complimentary elite (or close to it) status just for being a cardmember.

Here are some of our favorite hotel credit cards.

Wyndham Rewards Earner+ Visa Card

Earn up to six points for every dollar you spend on Hotels by Wyndham bookings as well as select gas stations. Plus, you can earn four points for every dollar spent on eligible dining and grocery store purchases and one point per dollar on everything else. The current bonus offer for signing up is 45,000 bonus points when you spend $1,000 in the first 90 days. There is a $75 annual fee.

World of Hyatt Visa Card

Earn four points for every dollar you spend on Hyatt hotel bookings plus five points per dollar on top of that if you’re a World of Hyatt member. This card also gives you two points for every dollar spent on eligible flights, dining, rideshares, and everything else (up to $15,000 annually). The current bonus offer for signing up is 30,000 bonus points when you spend $3,000 in the first 90 days. There is a $95 annual fee.

Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Visa Card

Earn six points for every dollar you spend on Marriott hotel bookings plus 10 points for being a Marriott Bonvoy rewards member and another point if you have Silver Elite status. All other purchases are eligible to earn two points per dollar. This card also gives you 15 elite night credits and automatic Silver Elite status every year. The current bonus offer is for 125,000 bonus points and one free night when you spend $5,000 in the first 90 days. There is a $95 annual fee.

Related: Check out the 15 best Marriott Luxury hotels to book with points in 2021!

Hilton Honors American Express Card

Earn seven points for every dollar you spend on qualifying Hilton hotel bookings; five points per dollar on dining, grocery, and gas purchases; and three points per dollar spent on almost anything else. Cardmembers automatically get Silver status just for having the card and Gold status if they spend at least $20,000 in a year. The current bonus offer is for up to 130,000 bonus points: 80,000 when you spend $1,000 in the first 90 days and another 40,000 if you spend $5,000 or more in the first six months. There is no annual fee.

Eat at Partner Restaurants

We don’t usually need to be convinced to go out to eat, but it doesn’t hurt when you can earn points while dining.

Many hotel loyalty programs allow users to earn points when eating at select establishments. This takes a bit of advance planning, but finding a place to eat that will qualify to earn points is usually as simple as searching participating restaurants in your location.

Eat Around Town by Marriott Bonvoy is just one example. This program features over 11,000 participating restaurants where members can earn up to six points for every dollar spent. Plus, you can get 6,000 bonus points for your first three dines. Hilton Honors Dining works similarly but also has a VIP program. VIP members can earn up to eight points per dollar and have more restaurants to choose from than non-VIPs. To become a VIP, you just need to eat at 11 qualifying restaurants in a year.

If you plan to eat and drink your way to elite status, be sure to sign up for these programs. You are not always enrolled automatically when you join a hotel’s loyalty program and you usually need to link a credit card and use this every time to qualify.

Host Events

Do you host a lot of events or meetings? Most of the big hotel rewards programs give members opportunities to earn elite qualifying points by hosting their events at their conference rooms and event centers. If you have a business meeting coming up or a party to throw, see if you can’t make it happen at a hotel.

The Wyndham Rewards “go meet” program lets you earn one point for every dollar spent on events, including any hotel rooms you or people in your party book or any food and beverage you purchase.

Radisson Rewards for Business features over 550 Radisson locations that allow you to host points-qualifying events. Travel agents and small/medium businesses can earn up to 10 points.

per dollar on room bookings, and meeting and event planners can earn up to five points per dollar on event bookings.

Book Ride Shares

Earn hotel rewards points while getting a lift without lifting a finger. Some hotels partner with popular ride sharing programs to let members send points earned from rides right to their hotel loyalty account.

Hilton partners with Lyft to let members earn points for every ride and even pay for rides using points. Marriott partners with Uber to give members hotel points for qualifying Uber rides and Uber Eats deliveries. Link your hotel loyalty accounts and rideshare accounts for maximum earning potential.

Use Status Matching or Participate in Challenges

Keep an eye out for points-boosting opportunities within your loyalty programs, because this is one of the best ways to quickly earn enough points to reach elite.

Some programs periodically run promotions to help members increase their status faster. They may tell you that they will match whatever points you earn in a three-month period, temporarily lower the requirements to qualify for each status tier, or give you a bonus to boost your account if you reach a certain predetermined threshold.

These promotions are pretty common and most rewards programs have them at least once a year. If you see an opportunity like this, definitely participate.

Transfer Points

Another way to get more points into your hotel account is not to earn them but to transfer points you have elsewhere. Your credit card, for example, may qualify you to transfer points into your hotel loyalty account. For instance, Amex cardholders can transfer their American Express Membership Rewards to their Hilton Honors accounts.

If you don’t have credit card points to transfer, see if a friend or family member would be willing to part with theirs. The majority of loyalty programs permit points transfers between members or may let several people pool their points for a trip. There are usually limits to how often you can transfer points between accounts and how many points you can transfer at once and per year, but this is an option worth exploring if you’re really strapped for points. Some programs require you to initiate points transfers over the phone with a customer service agent.

Purchase Points

While we don’t usually recommend purchasing points for your hotel account instead of doing any of the other things on this list, this can be a good way to top off your account and finally cross the threshold to elite status.

Plus, some loyalty programs run promotions that let you purchase points at a discount. If you’re going to buy points to reach elite status, it’s a good idea to figure out the value of the points you’re getting first.

If the value of a point is much lower than the price of a point, then consider waiting until a deal comes around or earning points another way. It’s almost never worth it to purchase heavily marked-up points.

Final Thoughts

These are nine of the best ways to earn points toward elite status with your favorite hotel brands, but this isn’t all. Purchasing experiences or activities, writing reviews, and even shopping on Amazon are a few other ways that might push you to elite.

Familiarize yourself with the loyalty programs you’re a part of so that earning points for everyday activities becomes second nature. Before you know it, you’ll have elite status with your favorite hotels earning free nights, perks and freebies, and more.

✈️ Looking for a new travel credit card this year? See today’s top offers below:

Best Ways to Earn Citi ThankYou Points

October 1, 2021 by Rosemarie Clancy

Citi ThankYou Points are a flexible currency rewards program like American Express Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards. You earn ThankYou points by using your Citi debit or credit cards, and points can be redeemed for travel in the bank’s online booking portal or they can be transferred to airline programs if you have one of its premium cards.

Citi partners with 17 airlines programs including American Airlines AAdvantage and JetBlue TrueBlue here in the US. The others are foreign carrier programs including the popular Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, Emirates Skywards, Etihad Guest and Qatar Airways Privilege Club.

Transfer rates are usually 1:1 for most programs, but that can vary according to the card you have. You must have either the Citi Prestige or Citi Premier® Card to convert ThankYou points to miles in an airline program.

There are only a handful of Citi cards that earn ThankYou points, though the Citi Prestige premium travel credit card is not being offered for the foreseeable future and may be discontinued. It’s also possible it may get an overhaul to make it more competitive in the crowded premium travel credit card market.

✈️ Looking for a new travel credit card this year? See today’s top offers below:

Which Citi Cards Earn ThankYou Points?

The Citi Prestige is not currently available to new applicants, but if you have it in your wallet you can still use it to earn and redeem points. Because this was the top-of-the-line card that has a $495 annual fee, it has the best earning and redemption options.

The two major credit cards that earn ThankYou points and are available for new applicants are the Citi Premier® Card, which is a mid-tier card with a $95 annual fee, and the Citi Rewards+® Card, which rounds up to the nearest 10 points on every purchase and has no annual fee.

Citi also lets you earn ThankYou points for using your debit card, it has a new cashback card that earns 5x ThankYou points per dollar spent, and also a co-branded telecom card that offers these rewards.

In this article, we’ll go over all the ways that you can boost your ThankYou points balance through bonus earning categories and other strategies. All cards noted earn at least one point per dollar spent, though we are focusing on options to maximize your points earned through bonus opportunities.

Sign-Up and Welcome Bonuses

Sign-up bonuses are one of the best ways to get a lot of points after meeting minimum spend requirements. For a limited time, both the Citi Premier card and the Citi Rewards+ card are offering elevated sign-up bonuses.

Now is a good time to get the Citi Premier card because it has its best ever sign-up bonus of 60,000 points!

You also need to have either this card or the Prestige to transfer points to airlines, and since the Prestige card is not currently available this is your best bet if you want to convert these points to miles. This card has a $95 annual fee.

The Citi Rewards+ credit card is offering 20,000 points after you spend $1,500 on purchases in the first three months.

This card has no annual fee and is offering a 0% introductory APR for 15 months on purchases and balance transfers. After the intro period a variable APR of 14.24% to 24.24% applies.

Open a Newly Launched Product – Like Citi Custom Cash℠ Card

Citi has also introduced a new card called the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card card which gives you 5% cash back in your top eligible spending category each billing cycle up to $500, then it earns 1%.

There is no need to enroll in rotating bonus categories to get the 5x points. Eligible categories are drugstores, home improvement stores, fitness clubs, live entertainment, restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores, and select travel, transit and streaming services.

What’s important to know on this one is that cash back is earned as ThankYou points which can be redeemed for travel or you can choose to get a statement credit or a check or explore other redemption options.

This new card comes with $200 cash back after you spend $750 in purchases in the first three months of having the card. It also has a 0% introductory APR for 15 months that is good for purchases and balance transfers. A variable APR of 14.24% to 24.24% apply after the intro period.

There is no annual fee.

Or the Citi AT&T Access Card

The AT&T Access Credit Card from Citi earns 2x ThankYou points per dollar spent online at retail and travel websites and on products and services from AT&T including phone accessories and tablets. It earns one ThankYou point per dollar on everything else.

This card comes with a 10,000 point sign-up bonus after you make $1,000 in purchases in the first three months after opening the card. There is no annual fee.

Or the Citi® Double Cash Card – 18 month BT offer

The Citi® Double Cash Card – 18 month BT offer is another way to earn double ThankYou points. You don’t earn them directly, but you can convert rewards earned to the flexible currency. This card gives you one point when you make a purchase and another point when you pay it off.

This is a fairly new option on this card and it turns the already popular cashback card into a ThankYou point earning powerhouse. There is no annual fee for this card.

Spend with your Citi Debit Card

Citi is unique in that it lets you earn ThankYou points by using your debit card. To start earning this way, you enroll your eligible checking account in the ThankYour Rewards program and set up one qualifying direct deposit and one qualifying bill payment each statement cycle.

If you don’t have a Citi checking account, you can open one to start earning ThankYou points this way if you use your debit card more than a credit card. This is not new. It was actually a big component of the ThankYou program which was designed to reward banking customers.

Go Travel Somewhere

Travel is an obvious bonus earning category for travel rewards programs, and Citi is very generous in how it defines travel. It includes airlines as well as travel agencies including travel aggregators and tour operators.

If you currently hold the Citi Prestige card you can earn 5x ThankYou points on travel purchases in those categories, though hotel and cruise line bookings will only earn 3x points with this card. One way around this is to book your hotel or cruise through a travel agent to get the 5x points.

The next best option if you don’t have the Prestige, is the Citi Premier card which earns 3x on travel.

Go Grocery Shopping

Another popular bonus points earning category is supermarkets. To get extra points in this category, use your CitiRewards+ card, which earns 2x ThankYou points on up to $6,000 per year in combined supermarket and gas station purchases for a maximum bonus of 12,000 points per year in this category and one point after that.

After you max out that bonus category or if you don’t have this card, there are still a few ways to earn bonus points for grocery shopping. You can use the new Custom Cash card and get 5x points if supermarkets are your top spending category in any month, or you can use the Double Cash card as noted in the dining section above.

Fill Up the Tank

Gas station purchases are also a popular category for consumers seeking rewards for their everyday spending. The Citi Premier card offers 3x points in this category, and the Citi Rewards+ earns 2x points on up to $6,000 in combined purchases per year on groceries and gas. Citi includes all gas station purchases in this category, not just fuel.

Dine Out

Prior to pandemic and Covid-19, Dining has always been a popular category for travel rewards cards, and Citi recognizes that by having it as a top earning category for people collecting ThankYou points. The Citi Prestige card earns 5x points per dollar on dining, takeout and deliveries, and the Premier card earns 3x points.

In addition to establishments serving food, Citi also includes fast food restaurants as well as bars, cafes, taverns, lounges and nightclubs in this category. Some other card issuers do not allow bonus point earning in the dining category for these kinds of places. But some places that serve food but are in a larger establishment like an airport or amusement park will not code as dining.

Keep in mind that if dining is your top spending category, the Citi Custom Cash card will give you 5x for that category. And you can earn 2x points on dining if you use the Citi Double Cash card and convert those points once the bill is paid. This holds true for any of the bonus categories below as well.

Go to a Ball Game

When it comes to entertainment, the best Citi card to earn bonus points is the Citi Premier card, which earns 2 x points. Entertainment includes amusement parks, movie theaters, sports, theatrical productions and tourist attractions.

With all of the recent changes in its lineup of cards, it’s clear that Citi is trying to bolster its ThankYou Points rewards program by giving people new ways to earn those points. They also may be revamping their premium rewards card behind the scenes.

It looks like they may be taking a page from Chase’s playbook on how they built their Ultimate Rewards program. Before Chase introduced the Sapphire line of cards, the Chase Freedom Flex℠ was a flexible cash back card that let you choose the option of earning cash back or Ultimate Rewards. By allowing customers to convert their Citi Double Cash rewards to ThankYou points, they will increase the branding of the ThankYou Rewards program.

Chase also introduced 5% rotating bonus categories similar to what Discover offers, and we are now seeing that with the new Custom Cash card that is offering 5x on your top category and rewards you with ThankYou points that can be used for travel or converted.

My prediction is that Citi will reintroduce its premium Prestige card, perhaps with a new name. Watch for a big splash if/when that comes out. If they follow Chase’s lead there will be a huge sign-up bonus like we saw when the Chase Sapphire Reserve launched.

Citi may try to lure customers with a smaller annual fee than the Chase SapphireReserve or the Platinum card from American Express, both of which have increased their annual fees this past year or so.

Final Thoughts

If you are currently holding the Citi Prestige card and are considering downgrading it, think twice about that especially if you spend a lot on travel and dining as this is the only Citi card that lets you earn 5x in those categories and Citi has halted applications for it.

If you are planning to transfer your ThankYou points to an airline program, you need to have either the Citi Prestige or the Premier card. If you don’t currently hold the Premier card, then it might be a good time to apply.

If you make a lot of small purchases, the Citi Rewards+ is a good idea to boost your points balance. For example, every $2 cup of coffee will automatically round up to reward you with 10 ThankYou points.

With the elevated bonuses in place, this is a great time to add either the Premier or Rewards+ card to your wallet. If you don’t already have either one, think about applying for both cards while the limited time bonus offers are in place. Together they will reward you with 80,000 bonus points and minimum spend for both is $5,500 and only one annual fee is involved for a cost of $95. That’s a nice stash of ThankYou points for a small outlay of cash.

If you’re not a big fan of cashback cards because you like to use your points for travel, it’s time to give the Citi Double Cash card a second look. The ability to earn 2x points on all purchases is very valuable, especially now that you can convert those points to miles.

And finally, the new Custom Cash card is also worth considering because of its ability to earn 5x ThankYou points in your top spending category every month.

✈️ Looking for a new travel credit card this year? See today’s top offers below:

Buying Airline Miles – When To Consider This Option?

June 9, 2021 by Lauren Graves

Miles can be earned through frequent flyer rewards programs with nearly any airline. If you fly often enough with one or two airlines, you will more than likely be rewarded for your loyalty with miles. These can be put toward any number of things, including ticket upgrades, hotel reservations, car rentals, and even airline-branded merchandise, if you’re into that sort of thing.

But what if you want more miles than you’ve currently earned making airline purchases or flying?

Many airlines give customers the option of purchasing additional miles or points for their accounts, but there aren’t many advantages in doing this as the price at which they are sold often exceeds the value in which they can be exchanged for.

The tactic of acquiring more miles than you’ve “earned” isn’t going to be a huge money-saving hack by any means, but there are some instances where it can cut costs and make your life easier.

We will cover those potential scenarios in this article.

✈️ Looking for a new travel credit card this year? See today’s top offers below:

When Should You Consider Buying Airlines Miles

In a nut shell, there are generally three scenarios in which one should consider purchasing airlines miles.

You might consider buying miles if:

Buying miles makes the price of the ticket more affordable than its retail price, or
Buying miles keeps you from having your frequent flyer account deactivated, or
Buying additional miles allows you to cash in a bonus offer or reward that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to.

If the price of the ticket is greater than the cost of purchasing necessary miles.

There are going to be times (albeit, not often) when ticket prices surpass miles prices. When this is the case, take advantage of the opportunity to save money and buy miles rather than the ticket itself.

To find out when this opportunity is present, you’ll need to do some basic math.

First, figure out the price per mile if you were to buy miles directly from your loyalty program’s website. Look for the “buy,” “gift,” or “transfer” tabs once you’ve logged in. The price per mile varies by airline, but a general rule of thumb is 2.5 to 3.5 cents per mile.

Second, after you’ve added up how much it will take to buy the required miles for the ticket, weigh this against the actual retail price of the ticket itself. Be sure to factor in taxes and fees.

To prevent accrued miles from expiring.

The last thing you want to do after racking up major miles is to let them go to waste.

Most frequent flyer programs set expiration dates on their miles if your account remains inactive for too long—18 months is fairly typical—and one way to keep an account active is to put more miles into it. It doesn’t matter whether these are purchased or earned or how many it is.

Especially if your favorite airline will let you purchase just one or two thousand miles or if your flying habits are more sporadic, buying miles to prevent account deactivation could be a great way to make sure that you never lose miles before you get a chance to use them.

The United Airlines MileagePlus program, for example, allows customers to purchase as few as 2,000 miles and it goes up in increments of 1,000. These miles cost $35 per 1,000 miles (or 3.5 cents each) so with the 2,000 mile minimum purchase requirement, it would cost you $70 ($35 per 1,000 miles) to purchase 2,000 miles and thus keep your entire allotment active.

Buying miles to cash in on a bonus or to top off a reward.

Many airlines run promotions to incentivize buying miles, and you’re going to want to be on the lookout for these. Don’t waste your time with deals that only save you a couple of cents a mile, but instead keep your eyes peeled for slashed rates. Rate reductions of anywhere from 10% to 50% are common when you buy more miles at a time.

For example, American Airlines is currently running a promotion until June 20, 2021 where customers can buy miles up to 40% off. The maximum amount of miles one can buy (and also where the greatest value lies) is 150,000 miles. With this promotion the cost of 150,000 miles is $2,902.50 or 1.935 cents per mile! Login to your AAdvantage account here to see this particular bonus offer.

Topping Off a Reward

Buying miles is a quick and easy way to supplement what you already have in your account, but only if the math makes sense.

If you’re really close to being able to use your miles on a great reward or ticket but just don’t quite have what you need in your account, consider buying enough to close the distance. The vacation package of your dreams could be just a few thousand miles away.

Consider the following:

Let’s say you and your significant other want to go to Hawaii for vacation and you’ve saved 145,000 miles between the two of you.

In general, it costs ~40,000 miles for one roundtrip ticket to Hawaii (or 75,000 miles for business class).

You two easily have enough miles to cash in on a free trip (40,000 miles each x 2 = 80,000 miles required), but with just 5,000 extra miles you could go in business class (75,000 miles each x 2 = 150,000 miles required).

In this scenario, it could make sense to purchase the additional 5,000 miles to bring your allotment from 145,000 up to 150,000 to cash in on the business class trip to Hawaii rather than flying coach.

Where To Go To Buy Airline Miles

Where you need to go to purchase airline miles will depend on which loyalty program(s) you are a part of and which airlines you fly most often. For the most part, airlines want you to buy miles so they make this easy and obvious to find.

If you visit your loyalty program’s website or online portal, look for links saying “buy,” “gift,” or “transfer” miles.

Other Variables To Consider

As stated, purchasing miles isn’t going to make sense in most cases, so make sure that you know how to make this decision wisely when the option presents itself.

The following two considerations are also important to keep in mind if you are thinking about buying miles.

Can you purchase miles with a rewards credit card?

If you’ve got a great reward credit card in your wallet and it makes sense for you to purchase airline miles (using our guide above), then you may want to compound the miles you earn by purchasing them with your reward credit card.

Buying miles using a rewards credit card will earn you even more miles or credit card points at no additional cost to you—just make sure that both the airline and the card will let you do this.

The best cards count miles purchases as travel purchases, which is a good way to earn more points or miles than you pay for.

Co-branded airline cards are a great way to maximize the earning potential on anything travel-related with a certain carrier, especially miles, while general rewards cards may or may not be compatible with your airline of choice.

How many award seats are available on the flight?

Airline miles can’t just be used to purchase flight seats whenever you please. Unfortunately, award seats—or seats set aside specifically for award redemption—are often limited. And even more unfortunate, a carrier won’t always make it easy to find out how many award seats are still available when you go to book a flight.

Searching for tickets through your airline’s search engine and filtering the results is going to be your best bet, but make sure that you’re searching only direct flights, as flights through partner airlines are not typically eligible to be paid for with miles and points. Also note that if you are traveling with a large party, you are unlikely to be able to use miles for all of your seats. Usually, a flight or cabin only has between one and five award seats available, but this will depend on many factors including the airline, flight route, seat class, etc.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, the scenarios in which purchasing airlines miles makes sense are few and far between.

If you are close to being able to redeem a loyalty reward, your miles are about to expire due to account inactivity, your favorite airline is running a promotion you can’t pass up, or the cost of a flight ticket is greater than the cost of enough miles to pay for said ticket, then buying miles makes some sense. Outside of this, however, you’ll be hard pressed to find a scenario in which it would be advantageous to purchase miles.

Before you go through with any purchases, just make sure that you’re using the right credit card and award seats are still available on the flight you’re looking to take.

The ability to purchase airline miles is a useful option to keep in mind, but don’t fall into the trap of thinking that frequent flyer miles or points are more valuable than they really are. The true dollar value of any given mile ebbs and flows.

✈️ Looking for a new travel credit card this year? See today’s top offers below:

14 Simple Ways to Keep Your American Airlines Points Active

May 22, 2021 by Lauren Graves

The American Airlines points program, called AAdvantage, is how American Airlines thanks its customers for continued loyalty and how frequent flyers can earn miles that stretch their money farther. If you qualify for the AAdvantage program and want to know how to keep your account active, find out how to prevent your miles from expiring.

In a nut shell, you need to earn more miles or redeem what you already have to keep your points active. Flying is just one way to earn and keep miles from expiring, but it might not be the most convenient choice. There are countless other ways to earn miles through American Airlines that don’t involve boarding a plane at all, and plenty of ways to redeem miles too. Keep reading for 14 simple tips that will keep your points active.

✈️ Looking for a new travel credit card this year? See today’s top offers below:

Do American Airlines Miles Expire?

Yes, American Airlines miles do expire, but it takes 18 months of inactivity for this to happen. This is a relatively short expiration period, but it can easily be reset (an option that not all airlines offer).

Qualifying activity includes earning or redeeming miles, so all you have to do to keep the miles in your account from lapsing is to use miles or get more. And as soon as activity is registered on your account, the expiration date is automatically reset to 18 months from the time of most recent activity.

At this time, American Airlines is extending the expiration period for miles set to expire between April 2nd and June 30 of 2020 to July 1st due to travel restrictions and stay-at-home orders that make it harder to get and use points. So you might not have to worry about keeping your miles just yet, but you’ll want to know how to when that time comes.

Here’s how.

Fly

You don’t have to fly to earn miles, and you don’t even have to fly American if you are going somewhere. A trip through any of American Airlines’ one world or other partner airlines counts and will help you get points. Your miles can then be put toward American or partner flights, once you have enough.

So if you’re already planning to go somewhere, make sure you maximize your spending—and reset your account—by flying American or an American partner.

Use Your Miles to Shop

The AAdvantage e-shopping mall provides an opportunity for members to earn points per dollar spent at over 950 online stores. There are many participating stores to choose from, and the portal lets you sort these by name or earn rate, top stores, featured deals, store type (including at home comforts, food and drink, entertainment and education, and more), and trending stores.

But don’t think that shopping through a portal means your options are limited. This is far from the case, as you’ll have access to popular brands and companies like Apple, Nike, and Target. Some places will only give you a point per dollar spent, but some will give you seven. Keep in mind that earning even just a few miles is enough to prevent your balance from expiring.

Your first thought when you need new clothes, tech, or other household essentials might not be to make your purchases through American Airlines, but as long as this thought occurs to you at least once every 18 months, you could keep your American points active through online shopping alone.

Enroll in the AAdvantage Dining Program

Just like everyone has to shop, everyone has to eat, and American Airlines is prepared to reward you with more than just a full stomach when you dine at any of their 10,000 restaurant partners. AAdvantage Dining lets you earn miles per dollar when you eat out at thousands of local and nationwide establishments that you probably already eat at anyway. You won’t earn a whole lot unless you do this often, but at least your points won’t expire.

Just input your location into the search tool to see your options and find out how many miles you can expect to earn.

Transfer Miles

More miles than you know what to do with? Share them with someone else. Transferring miles to another person’s AAdvantage account will incur fees of $20 or more per 1,000 miles (login here for current rates) and processing fees on top of that, but it’ll also keep your points active, so it may or may not be worth it. You may transfer no more than 200,000 per year and transfers are not reversible or refundable. Keep this option in mind for when other methods, for whatever reason, aren’t going to work.

Buy Miles

Use the BGT Portal to buy, gift, or transfer miles.

Full disclosure: this is not the most practical or economical way to keep your points active, but it’s a choice nonetheless. Buying more miles will cost upwards of $30 per 1,000 miles and at least as much in processing, but you can do this quickly and easily in a pinch and it’s better than coughing up the cash to have miles reactivated if they expire. Plus, there are often promotions that’ll essentially match the miles you buy, making the fees more worthwhile.

Get (And USE) an AAdvantage Credit Card

Using an American Airlines branded travel credit card is one of the easiest ways to earn miles without having to remember to do anything special. With one of the following four CitiBank / AAdvantage credit cards, you can earn miles for everyday spending on groceries, American Airlines purchases, food and drink, gas, and nearly anything else.

American Airlines credit cards include the:

Each card has its own unique perks, but all of them have mileage benefits (as well as travel discounts and perks). The MileUp card, for example, earns 2X miles at grocery stores. The Platinum Select earns 2 AAdvantage® miles per $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases, and on purchases at telecommunications merchants, cable and satellite providers, car rental merchants and at gas stations. The Executive card earns 2X miles on American Airlines purchases, and the Platinum Select business card earns 2X miles on cable and satellite purchases. No matter how you do most of your spending, one of these is likely to fit your lifestyle.

You probably don’t need to be told to not get credit cards you don’t need or for the miles alone, but one of these travel cards may just be right up your alley. And because there is no limit to the number of miles you can earn, spending with one of these cards might also be the perfect way to not only keep your points active but earn rewards effortlessly. Just be aware that some of these cards have annual fees.

Book a Hotel Stay

image credit: hyatt.com (AAdvantage hotel partner)

If using your credit card isn’t simple enough, the AAdvantage program makes it possible to earn miles in your sleep—as long as you’re sleeping in an American Airlines partner hotel. With big-name partners like Hyatt, Marriott, and Best Western, you can find a participating hotel just about anywhere in the world.

You can either stay at a partner hotel to earn miles—either flat rate or per dollar miles—or convert hotel points to American miles, and both of these actions count as qualifying activity on an account. You’ll maximize your return by staying at a partner hotel, so if you know ahead of time that you’ll be traveling, do this rather than converting points afterward (hotel points are not redeemable for an equal amount of airline points, so converting should be a last resort).

Book a Cruise

You might not associate cruises and flying with each other, but maybe you should. Similar to the partner hotel program, the American Airlines cruise program grants members miles when they take to the seas. Earn bonus miles well into the thousands per cruise when you book through American Airlines Cruises, with fares backed by a 110% best price guarantee (if you find a better price somewhere else within two days of booking through American, you’ll be refunded 110% of the difference).

Cruise lines like Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and even Disney participate in this program, so don’t worry about not finding the trip you’re looking for. Tickets are sold at exclusive American Airlines discounted rates and, of course, earn major miles. Through June 30, 2022, earn one AAdvantage mile per $1 spent on cruises up to 10,000 miles.

Rent a Car

AAdvantage members can also earn when renting cars—at least 500 miles per rental day, in fact. When you book a car with American Airlines, you can rent through car rental programs including but not limited to Budget, National, Avis, and Hertz. Today’s featured deals, valid through May 31, 2020, include:

Save up to 35% and earn 1,000 bonus miles through Avis
Save up to 30% and earn 1,000 bonus miles through Budget

Save With Bask Bank

Want a way to earn miles while saving money? Bask Bank—an online, FDIC-insured bank that offers the only savings account that earns miles instead of interest—can make that happen. Right now, they are offering 5,000 miles when you deposit $5,000 into a savings account and maintain this balance for at least 30 days. Rather than an interest rate, you’ll earn a mile on the dollar with this account.

A single AAdvantage mile is estimated to be worth 1.4 cents, so you’re looking at sizable returns if you go this route. However, unless you fly a lot, you probably don’t want all of your interest in the form of miles; but if you do, this is an easy way to keep the deposits coming and your points active.

Sign up for e-Rewards or Miles for Options

American Airlines and other companies want your feedback, and they want it so badly that they’re willing to give you miles for it. Get 250 AAdvantage miles just for signing up with e-Rewards, an online market research community, then keep answering surveys of your choice (they don’t all have to be about flying) to earn e-Rewards currency that can be converted into miles. You’ll need a balance of $12 or more in e-Rewards to redeem, and these can be redeemed as miles.

You can also (or instead) sign up for Miles for Opinions, an American Airlines partner with a similar program. Participate in any surveys, panels, or focus groups you’d like to and receive miles deposited directly into your AAdvantage account.

Enroll in LifeLock

Protect yourself from identity theft and get 12,000 miles by enrolling in a LifeLock membership. You’ll need to be an active member for 31 days before the miles are yours, but then you’ll get even more (dependent on membership plan) in the second and third years of your membership if you choose to continue your LifeLock protection.

LifeLock will monitor your SSN and credit activity and scan for potential threats for $8.99/month (standard) and bank and investment activity on top of that for $22.49/month (ultimate plus). Obviously, signing up for a new identity theft protection service isn’t exactly going to save you money, but it’s something to consider if you want this type of insurance anyway.

Donate to Charity

If you’re feeling charitable, consider donating to an organization in collaboration with American: Stand Up to Cancer. This charity is committed to researching cancer treatments and cures, and American Airlines is committed to helping them do that by presenting members with the option of donating to earn miles. You’ll get 10 miles for every dollar you give over $25, and this action can be performed at any time. Just make sure to donate through American Airlines to get your miles.

Donate Some Miles

If you don’t want to donate cash for miles, you can go a slightly different route and donate your miles. This is an especially good option if you don’t have enough points to help with flight costs and/or want to support a worthy cause for no additional cost.

Donate miles to any of the following programs:

Miles for Our Well-Being, which supports the health and wellness of patients in partnership with Stand Up to Cancer, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and Make-A-Wish
Miles for Our Heroes, which honors American military service members in partnership with Medal of Honor, the George W. Bush Institute, and the Gary Sinise Foundation
Miles for Our Social Good, which performs humanitarian work in partnership with the Red Cross, Feeding America, and UNICEF.

There is no minimum donation required and donations made in this fashion are not tax-deductible.

How to Reactivate your AA Miles

You can reactivate your AA miles if they’ve expired, however American Airlines will charge a fee to do so.

If you decide to go this route, you have one of two options:

Online by logging in to your account.
By calling customer service at 800-882-8880 or your elite reservation number. Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. – 7 p.m. (CT).

You can reactivate up to 500,000 miles within 18 months of their expiration.

Final Thoughts

Since there are so many ways to earn and redeem miles, there’s no reason that your AAdvantage points need to expire before you can use them—to let this happen is not only wasteful but entirely avoidable. If you follow these tips and tricks, it’s easy to keep your account active and maximize your earnings.

But if you regularly come close to letting your points expire, keep in mind that adding more points to your account is only going to drive your total miles up and you’ll still have to use them at some point. There are certainly worse problems to have than too many miles, but the AAdvantage loyalty program isn’t going to do you much good if you’re not using your points.

✈️ Looking for a new travel credit card this year? See today’s top offers below:

Guide to Purchasing United Airlines Flight Miles

July 31, 2020 by Lauren Graves

The United Airlines MileagePlus program is known for having great promotional offers and comparatively valuable miles, but you probably already know that if you’re a frequent flyer.

And if you often use your miles to lessen the cost of flights or upgrade for free, then you probably also know that additional miles are available for purchase if what you’ve earned through flights and card purchases isn’t enough.

But before you go buying miles, be sure you know what you need them for and exactly how many you need. This will help you determine whether there is a cost savings in purchasing the miles with cash. This involves researching factors such as what miles can actually get you in terms of trips, rewards and/or upgrades as well as what restrictions may apply when redeeming miles. These are all ever-changing and could mean the difference between saving money or losing money.

Purchasing United Airlines miles, like any other airline miles, is rarely beneficial to a consumer’s wallet, but if you familiarize yourself with how these frequent flyer points are priced and what their actual value is, you can take advantage of opportunities to save money in ways you might not otherwise have thought.

When is it a Good Idea to Purchase United Airline Flight Miles

United Airlines flight miles should only be purchased when the math makes sense and there is a clear ROI.

This could be when United Airline miles are being sold at incredible discounts (such as now) or when you need a small amount of miles to top off a reward or trip and purchasing the mile difference is cheaper than paying for it with cash.

Here are a few times when buying miles makes good sense and could save you money.

When United Airlines Offers Promotions or Discounts

For example, right now, United Airlines is giving customers that purchase miles an 85% bonus. This means that the entire balance of your purchase will be matched up to 85%, which effectively makes every mile worth 1.85% as much as it normally is.

This may change your calculus on whether or not it’s a right time for you to buy miles, especially if you already had a trip or upgrade in mind and are most of the way there on points.

Keep your eye out for United Airline bonuses like this. A 100% United Airline mile match bonus was also spotted earlier this month.

They come often and can either be available for anyone online or direct offers to you specifically (usually via direct mail). They’re usually “flash deals” which can last anywhere from a few days to a few months.

The percentage is usually a tiered offer that looks something like this:

purchase 5,000 to 14,000 miles: receive a 30% bonus
purchase 15,000 to 39,000 miles: receive a 50% bonus
purchase 40,000 miles or more: receive a 100% bonus

When Buying Miles to Get a Free Ticket or Trip

Everyone wants to fly for free, and one way to do this is to use your miles. Flights through United Airlines and its partners can be purchased with enough points. Award pricing tends to fluctuate wildly like any other ticket pricing, but you can always check what the exact cost in miles will be when booking a flight.

Just select the “Book with miles” when searching a flight and see what the going rate is for your desired ticket. Is your current miles balance almost enough to cover it, or not even close? What is the current price of miles? Always ask these questions. At the end of the day if it’s not cheaper to purchase the miles to get you to your award than it would be paying the difference in cash then it’s simply not worth it.

United Airlines requires that you purchase at least 2,000 miles per transaction. Pricing is variable. You can buy miles in increments of 1,000 all the way up to 150,000 as long as you do not exceed the annual max of 175,000.

The current cost of United Airline Miles is $35 per 1,000 or 3.5 cents each. As you can tell from the chart below, it gets pretty pricey pretty quick when you pay full retail.

Current Cost of United Airlines Miles

# of Miles	Cost
1,000	$35
5,000	$175
10,000	$350
50,000	$1,750
100,000	$3,500
175,000	$6,125

When Buying United Airline Miles to Upgrade Your Seat

If you want to experience more luxurious flying without your bank account experiencing the depletion of luxurious flying, you may want to look into a seat upgrade using your miles – and buying a tad more to get you there may be worth it.

Both United and Star Alliance flights are eligible for seat upgrades paid for with miles, and MileagePlus members that qualify for Premier status—the highest level of loyalty with United, based on your activity and points—have access to great upgrade availability with more perks than other members.

A seat upgraded to a higher fare could cost you upwards of 20,000 each. You may choose to upgrade with miles when selecting fare preferences when booking a flight or after a flight has been booked, but you are not guaranteed upgraded seats until you pay for them.

Those that fly regularly through one airline probably shouldn’t “waste” their miles on a seat upgrade, or their money on miles to be used for this purpose. There are ways to squeeze more monetary value out of miles, and there are easier ways to earn miles. But, if you have miles saved up and are willing to pay a little extra to close the distance for an upgrade, you could buy miles for much less than the full cost of the upgrade in dollars.

When is it Not a Good Idea to Buy United Airline Flight Miles?

Buying United Airline Miles at full price is almost always a bad call.

Don’t let this carrier’s clever advertising and appealing miles redemption selections trick you into throwing away your money on miles that aren’t worth what you’re paying for them.

Make sure to calculate the value of each mile as precisely as you can and always plan ahead when you intend to purchase them for yourself or others.

When the Math Doesn’t Work

If you’ve ever purchased miles from any airline at their full price, you almost certainly lost money. It’s just one of the ways that airlines profit. This is why purchasing more miles or points only makes sense when there are promotions going on or when you already have most of what you need (think 80% or more) to upgrade a seat or buy a ticket.

Get into the habit of calculating the cost per mile for every United Airlines flight. What is it if you buy miles and use those and what is it if you just buy with straight-up cash? More often than not, straight-up cash will be cheaper. But if miles are discounted and/or you have most of what you need already in your account, then, by all means, buy the miles.

Watch Out For Fees For Transferring United Airline Miles vs. Getting Them Directly

Miles make a great gift for people often in the sky but beware of United Airlines’ transfer and processing fees. Buying miles as a gift is a great gesture, but it might lose you money.

MileagePlus miles can be transferred between two accounts, but not without incurring considerable extra charges. For every 500 miles you transfer from your own account to the account of another MileagePlus member, you will be charged $7.50 and $30 per transaction for processing on top of that.

Remember these transfer fees when purchasing miles for others, and consider gifting them directly to their account instead.

The Ticket You Wish to Purchase With Miles May Not Even be Available

Picture this: you’ve planned a whole trip out and budgeted the costs down to the cent, only to find out that the ticket you planned to purchase with miles isn’t available. Don’t let this happen to you—scout awards seats well before booking a flight. They sometimes go fast and are given on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Check the availability of award seats early on in your trip planning process. Being a frequent flyer doesn’t guarantee you tickets that can be purchased using miles, so you should never buy additional miles before looking into this.

Final Thoughts

If you fly United Airlines often enough to consider buying extra miles, you probably already have a decent stash of them in your account. And if this is the case, you are a great candidate for purchasing more when it saves you money. Pay attention to rising and falling rates and any hot deals that might pop up, and you give yourself the best possible chance of spending less on your miles than they are worth. But most important of all, know what you want! You should never just purchase miles to purchase miles, even if they’re on sale. You should always have a reward, trip or upgrade in mind so that you can do the math to be sure there is an ROI in it for you.

MileagePlus miles no longer expire, so if you do end up buying a little more than you need or you make a purchase that might not have been as well-informed as it could have been, your balance won’t go to waste.

United Airlines miles are fairly valuable and can be used in a lot of ways, but in the vast majority of cases you’re better off earning them indirectly through flights and credit card transactions rather than purchasing them directly through the airline.